Sure, the Suns boasted “token” playoff-tested veterans to help out the young locker room in recent seasons, including appearances by the likes of Trevor Ariza, Jamal Crawford, Tyson Chandler, Ryan Anderson, Jared Dudley and Leandro Barbosa.
But those veterans were just that: tokens. All were past their prime, bit players, unable to carry the torch for the team. Each year, for every token veteran “playing the right way” there were 3-4 young guys gifted more court time to cancel all that out.
Hence, the 27% winning percentage since 2015.